Early Intervention and Brain Plasticity

Jesse's developmental delay was thought to have been caused by a brain injury when he had the modified blalock shunt at 2 days of age. Much later we found the he had congenital toxoplasmosis. Here is a link to explain the condition
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001360.htm
The hospital Jesse was born at was testing for this condition and with early treatment some of the effects can be minimized. But due to his chd he was transferred to the pediatric hospital and wasn't tested. Jesse biological mother has an intellectual disability and his father a learning disability, adhd and schizophrenia.
I worked each day with Jesse in the first three years. Using the HELP (my bible and coffee table book in those years) from Birth to Three I worked on all skills areas - gross and fine motor, expressive and receptive language skills, cognitive and self help. He was referred to the State Child Development Centre with very poor assessment and follow up and was discharged at 14 months unable to stand, barely sit and not crawling. With my intensive support little by little he made gains.
Just recently I read Norman Doidge's book "The Brain That Changes Itself". This book should convince any parent of a child with special needs the importance of working toward developing new skills.
Early intervention draw new neural pathways in Jesse's brain. He gained good use of his right arm and hand and improved function of his right leg. His muscle tone improved. He was motivated to learn new skills. Toxoplasmosis causes calcified deposits in the brain so some damage couldn't be undone but without the intensive support he would have been far more disabled.